The Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean (FRIDA) opened its call for project proposals to provide funding and acknowledge innovative projects and initiatives in the field of ICTs. The call will remain open until 13 May.

Project proposals will be accepted under the three formats offered by the program: awards, grants and scale-ups. This year the program plans to provide a total of 235,000 US dollars to ten successful projects submitted under these three formats.

The FRIDA Awards seek to acknowledge innovative initiatives and practices that have made concrete contributions to the region's social and economic development. Two winners will be selected in three categories: technical innovation for Internet access and development; Internet and technologies for social inclusion, strengthening democracy and the exercise of rights and freedoms; and Internet and technology for social and economic development.

The FRIDA Grants provide funding to projects that seek to explore the potential of information and communications technology for promoting the region's social and economic development and Internet access.  This year, FRIDA will allocate USD 145,000 to support six projects, each of which will receive between USD 20,000 and USD 30,000 in the form of small grants.

In 2016, the FRIDA Scale-Ups program will seek to strengthen social enterprises that have developed successful technological solutions by allowing them to gain scale. Two USD 40,000 scale-up grants will be offered to initiatives in line with FRIDA’s areas of focus. In addition, the two selected projects will benefit from institutional strengthening and capacity building activities valued at an additional UDD 10,000. This is an open call for projects, though priority will be given to projects which have already received FRIDA funding in past editions of the program.

Created in 2004, the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean is an iniciative from the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC). The Frida Program provides funding and opportunities for capacity building and networking with civil society organizations, enterprises, governments and universities that articulate the potential of information and communication technologies for development in the region.

Contact: frida@lacnic.net